Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Carillion

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 20 March 2015 (HLWS406), Prompt Payment – Implementing the Duty on Large Companies to Report on Payment Practices and Policies, whether Carillion, in respect of its public sector contracts, reported on (1) standard payment terms, including any changes to these in the last reporting period; (2) the average time taken to pay; (3) the proportion of invoices paid beyond agreed terms; (4) the proportion of invoices paid (a) in 30 days or less, (b) between 31 and 60 days, and (c) beyond 60 days; (5) the amount of late payment interest owed and paid; (6) whether financial incentives were required to join or remain on supplier lists; and (7) membership of a Payment Code, as recommended in that Written Statement; and whether they will place a copy of Carillion’s responses to each of those metrics over the last three years in the Library of the House.

lord henley: The Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations came into force last year. Businesses in scope must publish aggregate data on their payment practices covering all their qualifying contracts, whether public or private sector. The duty applies to businesses’ first full financial year starting after the 5th April 2017. Based on their 2016 annual report, we believe Carillion’s financial year to begin on 1 January and therefore their first reporting deadline to be 30 July 2018. As of 29th January 2018, Carillion have not filed a report. All reports submitted are publically available on https://check-payment-practices.service.gov.uk/search.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma: Rohingya

the lord bishop of coventry: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of (1) China, (2) Laos, (3) the Philippines, (4) Russia, and (5) Vietnam, regarding the announcement on 16 January that Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreedto repatriate Rohingya people; and what was the outcome of those discussions.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Since 16 January we have not discussed the issue of Rohingya returns with the named countries. Bilateral discussions on this issue are important but the UK is clear that there needs to be international, independent monitoring of any returns process. UNHCR is best placed to do this, and on 12 January FCO-DFID Minister Alastair Burt discussed this with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. We have been clear that any returns should be voluntary, safe and dignified. We will be reiterating this message with international partners through our overseas network and Ministerial interactions in the coming weeks.

Burma: Rohingya

baroness helic: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the report of the two civilian experts deployed to Bangladesh to report on crimes of sexual violence committed against Rohingya people during the recent violence in Myanmar.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The independent experts' report provided valuable information on issues related to possible crimes of sexual violence committed against the Rohingya community, and the Government is moving ahead to urgently implement the recommendations. The Government recognises the legitimate public interest in releasing as much as possible of the contents of the report, and is considering how best to do so, but cannot do so in full because some of it is based on information provided by Individuals in confidence.

Attorney General

Prosecutions

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 16 January (HL4533),in cases where there is no evidence at all against an accused, whether the CPSintends to drop the wording recommended by Sir Richard Henriques that "the case failed to meet the evidential test", and to change the Code accordingly.

lord keen of elie: The Crown Prosecution Service does not currently intend to change the wording recommended by Sir Richard Henriques for public announcements of decisions not to charge an individual, namely that “the case failed to meet the evidential test”.The Crown Prosecution Service has no immediate plans to change the wording of the evidential stage of the full Code test.

Department for Education

Commonwealth: Education

lord luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Lord Lieutenants are being encouraged to help promote the Commonwealth in schools in their counties ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in April 2018 in London.

lord agnew of oulton: As part of the Department for Education’s outreach to schools ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), we have prepared an education pack for 11-14 year-old school pupils. We plan to contact the Lord Lieutenants when the pack is ready to be sent to schools, with a view to asking them to support the promotion of the pack. Schools are also free to teach their pupils about the Commonwealth as part of their school curriculum. The national curriculum for citizenship education, introduced in September 2014, sets out that pupils are taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world. There are also a number of opportunities in the history programmes of study for pupils to be taught about the Commonwealth; for example, pupils are taught about British history from 1745 to 1901, including the development of empire; and they are taught about the end of Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945.

Students: Loans

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 18 June 2014 (HC 200265), what is their current estimate of the cash value of the income contingent student loan book in real terms for each year to 2050 before the sales of student loans.

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 18 June 2014 (HC 200265), what is their current estimate of the cash value of the income contingent student loan book in real terms for each year to 2050 after the sales of student loans.

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 18 June 2014 (HC 200265),what is their current estimate of the value of the income contingent student loan book in nominal terms for each year to 2050 before the sales of student loans.

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 18 June 2014 (HC 200265), what is their current estimate of the value of the income contingent student loan book in nominal terms for each year to 2050 after the sales of student loans.

viscount younger of leckie: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Later this year the Department for Education will produce an estimate of the cash value of the income contingent student loan book in real terms. We will also produce an estimate of the value of the income contingent student loan book in nominal terms, for each year to 2050, before the sales of student loans.

Children: Protection

lord ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce the number of children at risk, following the finding by the Local Government Association that an average of 1,770 children are being referred each day to local authorities' children's services; and what assessment they have made of theadequacy of the resources for, and responses to, the needs of vulnerable children.

lord agnew of oulton: The government is committed to ensuring that children at risk receive the right support. The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion to councils for local services (including children’s services) up to 2019-20. Local authorities are best-placed, and have the flexibility, to direct this towards locally determined priorities, including children’s services. The Department for Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have recently commissioned a joint data-research project to gather evidence on cost and demand pressures in the sector, including data collection into ‘need to spend’ on children’s services. The government’s statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’, attached, makes clear that providing support for children as soon as a problem emerges is more effective than reacting later. The guidance sets out that preventative action relies on local agencies working together to identify children and families who would benefit from early help. This should form part of continued support to respond to the different levels of need of individual children and families. Through the £200 million ‘Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme’, the government is investing nearly £5 million in targeted support for children in need, testing new approaches to prevent further harm. The government is carrying out a fundamental reform programme seeking to create a world-class child protection system, with the aim of achieving safety and stability for children, as set out in the government’s publication ‘Putting Children First: Delivering our vision for excellent children’s social care’, July 2016, attached. This work is organised around the key pillars of people and leadership, practice and systems, and governance and accountability. This wide-ranging programme of reforms underpins action to reduce the number of children at risk – such as through the introduction of new stronger local safeguarding arrangements, assessment and accreditation of social workers and targeted action to reduce risk, for example for children at risk of child sexual exploitation and unaccompanied asylum seeking children. 



Working together to safeguard children
(PDF Document, 1.57 MB)




Putting children first
(PDF Document, 5.88 MB)

Degrees: Standards

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government howthey ensure that there is a consistent and professional level of external examiners appointed for degrees validated by universities but not delivered bythose universities.

viscount younger of leckie: Higher education providers are autonomous organisations and as such, are responsible for validating their degrees for delivery through another institution. These institutions are subject to a rigorous, risk-based approach to quality assurance in line with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which applies across all UK providers of higher education. The code sets a clear expectation that higher education providers make scrupulous use of external examiners. The UK Quality Code for Higher Education also establishes the fundamental principle that degree awarding bodies have ultimate responsibility for academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities, regardless of where these opportunities are delivered and who provides them. Further information can be found at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code.

Degrees: Standards

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is clear guidance on the use of the plagiarism checker technology Turnitin by those universities that validate degrees from private and independent colleges.

viscount younger of leckie: Higher education providers, as autonomous organisations, are responsible for handling matters of this nature, including developing and implementing policies to detect and discourage plagiarism. Although the government does not provide guidance on, or advocate the use of, plagiarism software to help providers tackle the issue of plagiarism, we asked the Quality Assurance Agency, Universities UK and the National Union of Students to produce new guidance, which was published in October 2017 (see attached document). This guidance is the first set of comprehensive advice for providers and students on the subject. It makes clear that where providers are working with others to deliver programmes, such as through validation, care should be taken to ensure that partner organisations are taking the risks of academic misconduct seriously. Providers are also encouraged to consider steps to scrutinise potential partners' processes and regulations when developing validation arrangements. This is in line with the wider expectations set out in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which all providers must meet. This establishes the fundamental principle that degree awarding bodies have ultimate responsibility for academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities, regardless of where these opportunities are delivered and who provides them. Further information can be found at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code. Going forward I expect the Office for Students to encourage and support the sector to implement strong policies and sanctions to address this important issue in the most robust way possible.



Contracting to cheat in higher education
(PDF Document, 480.79 KB)

Faith Schools

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manyYeshiva schools there are in England.

lord agnew of oulton: Yeshivas provide religious education to male children and adults, and in the legal sense are not schools. They are not regulated at present, and consequently no information on them is collected centrally.

Nurses: Training

baroness neville-rolfe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have anyevidence that difficulties in recruiting UK nationals as nurses reflect changes in the UK's higher education system in recent years.

viscount younger of leckie: Until 1 August 2017, nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students had their training costs largely borne by the NHS, and this was not affected by changes to the wider higher education system. From 1 August 2017, most new undergraduate healthcare students receive tuition fee loans and, for full-time courses, living costs support, administered by the Student Loans Company. The former Department of Health also confirmed that it would fund up to an additional 10,000 clinical placements to support this expansion. These students are in their first year of university study. These reforms to healthcare student funding will help secure the future supply of nurses to the NHS by removing the artificial cap on training numbers in these professions, and enabling thousands of additional UK applicants to gain a place to study nursing at university.

Ministry of Justice

Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU)

baroness kinnock of holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to propose the introduction of specific legally enforceable provisions to maintain, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, all rights and judicial remedies contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights that do not have equivalents in current or envisaged UK law, in particular those relating to (1) protections for personal data, (2) workers’ rights, (3) women, (4) elderly citizens, (5) disabled people, and (6) LGBTI people.

lord keen of elie: The Charter did not create new rights, but reaffirmed rights which already existed in EU law. The EU (Withdrawal) Bill sets out that the Charter of Fundamental Rights will not form part of domestic law after exit. The Bill will retain the rights and principles which underpin the Charter and exist elsewhere in EU law or existing domestic law. The Government’s intention, therefore, is that in itself the non-incorporation of the Charter into UK law should not affect the substantive rights that individuals already benefit from in the UK. On 5 December 2017 the Government published a right-by-right analysis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, setting out how each substantive right found in the Charter will be reflected in the domestic law of the UK. It looks at how the right will flow through retained EU law and how it will otherwise be protected by existing domestic law or international law after exit.

Carillion

lord lee of trafford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what contracts HM prison service has with Carillion; and what services are provided under those contracts, across the prison estate.

lord keen of elie: Carillion AMBS Ltd (a subsidiary of Carillion PLC) has two contracts providing facilities management services to the prison estate.Work Package G: South West, South Central, Kent & Sussex; andWork Package H: Greater London and East of England. Carillion provide a wide range of facilities management services to 52 different sites. These include, but are not limited to, planned and reactive maintenance, landscaping and cleaning.

Parole: Sexual Offences

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to set out the criteria, and tests they undertake, by which Parole Board psychologists and psychiatrists determine that a sex offender is fit for release.

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government, with respect to the advice of Parole Board psychologists and psychiatrists relating to a sex offender being considered for release, what level of risk of offending is considered suitable for release.

lord keen of elie: Where the release of a prisoner is at the discretion of the Parole Board, the panel must apply the statutory release test which requires the Board to be ‘satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that a prisoner should be confined’. Parole panels comprise one or more members according to the needs and complexity of the case. Some, but not all, Parole Board panels include a psychologist member of the Parole Board. At an oral hearing, the parole panel will hear evidence and witnesses may include a prison psychologist and/or an independent psychologist. Psychologist members of the Parole Board do not undertake psychological assessment of prisoners nor do they give evidence to the parole panel. They sit in the same capacity as other members of the panel to assess the risk of serious harm to the public. The panel must determine whether the public would be at risk of further serious violent or sexual offending if the prisoner were to be released. Psychologist members have professional knowledge of psychology to assist the panel in considering the psychological assessment that forms part of the broad range of evidence before the panel.

Social Media: Children

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the settlement of a claim against Facebook in the High Court in Belfast concerning nude photos of a girl aged 14 placed on the Facebook website, whether they intend to assist people under 18 to pursue claims for similar abuses against social media companies.

lord keen of elie: The civil justice system provides an individual with a route to pursue a legal claim and potential damages against other parties. However, it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene directly in private law proceedings.

Parole Board

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what processes they use to review the performance of Parole Board psychologists; what actions they take to follow up instances of poor decision-making, judgment or performance; and whether they intend to conduct a study to assess the appropriateness of recommendations by Parole Board psychologists that sex offenders should be released in the light of whether those offenders subsequently re-offend.

lord keen of elie: All members of the Parole Board, including psychologist members, are subject to quality assurance processes. Members are assessed as part of their accreditation to make decisions and there is on-going, routine quality assurance thereafter. Cases where there has been a serious further offence within three years of a Parole Board decision to release are reviewed by the Board’s Review Committee and any learning that is identified is used to inform future policy, guidance and training. The Parole Board also has a Standards Committee that focuses on developing and promoting high standards of practice across the whole of the Board.

Sentencing

baroness gould of potternewton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their decision to extend the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to give the public the right to ask for tougher sentences fornine further terror-related offences, whether they intend to extend that scheme to cases of other serious crime.

lord keen of elie: The Government extended the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to a range of terrorism offences in response to the review of counter-terrorism powers that followed the London and Manchester attacks. This was the first step in meeting the commitment to consider the extension of the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General are currently considering how the scheme could be extended more generally.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Private Rented Housing: Electrical Safety

baroness eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to act on the recommendations of the private rented sector Electrical Safety Working Group.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government has committed to consult to test the recommendations of the working group to ensure that any regulation introduced is balanced and works for landlords and tenants. We must also take account of the conclusions of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety led by Dame Judith Hackitt which are expected in the Spring.

Planning

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific responsibilities have been given to the civil servant, formerly employed by Design Council CABE, who has been appointed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in order to assist the Chief Planner in improving design and place quality.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Civil Servant referred to has specific responsibility for design and other national planning policy, in relation to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).He is a town planner with over 10 years experience at national level and is also working on housing and place based deals across the country. He also sits on the Design Steering Group, overseeing the Department's Design Action Plan.

Planning

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have published a job description for the Built Environment Adviser that they are in the process of appointing; and how many people will be employed in the team of the Adviser.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The job description was published and we have recently appointed to this post. The person will initially lead a team of 4 reporting to the Chief Planner. They will be supported by the Design Steering Group, which includes a wider network of officials who are responsible for delivering high quality design outcomes in their areas of work. The person is an architect from private practice with a research background and has experience of projects in the public sector.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hunting

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to address the alleged use of trail hunting as a cover to conduct illegal fox hunting.

lord gardiner of kimble: Anyone who believes that an offence has taken place during a hunt, including during a trail hunt, should report the matter to the police, as the police deal with complaints of illegal hunting. Decisions on the arrest and prosecution of those taking part in illegal hunting activities are matters for the police and prosecuting authorities.

Ivory: Sales

lord crathorne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have that the proposed UK ban on historically sculpted ivory sales will (1) deter poachers in Africa, and (2) reduce the demand for sculpted ivory in Asia, India or the Middle East.

lord gardiner of kimble: In October 2017, the Government launched a consultation on proposals for a total ban on UK ivory sales that could contribute either directly or indirectly to the continued poaching of elephants, with certain narrowly defined and carefully targeted exemptions. These proposals will put the UK front and centre of efforts to end the trade in ivory. Through the consultation we sought views and evidence on the effect of the proposed ban, including on elephant conservation and the natural environment. The Government has proposed a ban on the sale of ivory, as trade in ivory continues to incentivise poaching by creating a demand for new ivory and providing a way to launder recently poached ivory. The consultation ended on 29 December 2017 and responses are currently being analysed, including any evidence provided on this issue. We will publish a response shortly.

Home Office

Banks: Fraud

lord chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what stepsthey are taking to ensure that there is full cooperation between banks in the investigation of fraud.

lord chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that victims of bank account fraud are compensated.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government set up the Joint Fraud Taskforce through which banks work with law enforcement and Government to improve the response to fraud. Under the Taskforce, improved data sharing between the banks and law enforcement has led to the heightened monitoring or closure of thousands of bank accounts connected to fraud. The Taskforce has also championed the Banking Protocol, which helps bank staff recognise signs of fraud, such as unusually high cash withdrawals, and guarantees a rapid enforcement response. The Banking Protocol has stopped over £11 million pounds from getting into criminal hands and led to over 100 arrests.This Government is committed to stopping stolen funds from getting into the hands of criminals, and where appropriate and legal, returning stolen money back to the victims of fraud. A priority area for the Taskforce is to establish a technical and regulatory framework that will ensure that more fraud losses can be returned to victims. Fraudsters move money rapidly and often through multiple bank accounts. Work is ongoing to test technology that can trace the movement of funds back to the source. Once the concept has been proven the Government will ensure that any legislative and regulatory barriers are removed to enable the technology to be used on a routine basis. This will allow for many more victims to be reimbursed following their loss.

Credit Cards: Fraud

lord steel of aikwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manyreported credit card frauds there were in each of the last available three years; and what was the total sum involved.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office collects quarterly fraud data, including banking and credit card industry fraud data, from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).These data are published by the ONS on a quarterly basis. The latest data are for year to June 2017 and are available in Table A5 at the link below: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtablesPublished tables for earlier quarters are also available at the above link.



Table A5 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 108.95 KB)

Driving under Influence: Cannabis

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to establish whether technology is available to distinguish between cannabis being in a driver's system, and that driver being impaired by having taken cannabis within 24 hours of driving; and what conclusions they have drawn.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government has developed mobile drug screening technology to support drug driving legislation. Screening devices were first introduced for police use in December 2014. These provide the police with technology to enforce the new offence introduced by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 which made it illegal to drive with one (or more) specified drugs in the body above a specified limit with effect from 2 March 2015. Cannabis is one of the specified drugs.

Migrant Workers: Doctors

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to reduce the Home Office salary threshold for granting visas in respect of overseas doctors seeking employment in UK hospitals; and if not, why not.

baroness williams of trafford: The minimum salary thresholds were set following consultation with the independent Migration Advisory Committee and are based on pay scales published by the NHS.

Cabinet Office

Carillion: Insolvency

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government how muchthey (1)have paid, and (2) are due to pay, PwC in connection with PwC advising HM Governmenton the consequences of the failure of Carillion.

lord young of cookham: In line with all central Government contracts, details of the work PwC are undertaking will be made available on Contracts Finder in due course.

Department for International Trade

Exports

lord kinnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of UK exports are to those countries with which the EU has existing free trade agreements, or with which the EU has concluded draft free trade agreements.

baroness fairhead: In 2016, UK exports of goods and services with countries with which the EU has existing free trade agreements, or with which the EU has concluded draft free trade agreements, accounted for 17% of the value of total UK exports to the world (equivalent to £92bn exports out of a total of £547.5bn).Free trade agreements are only one of the channels that can impact the volume of trade. The Department for International Trade is committed to ensure continuity in trading relationships that we are currently party to as an EU member. Source: ONS Pink Book, published in October 2017. [Please note there is no data available for Monaco]

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Museums and Galleries

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimatethey have made of the amount of art which is in storage at any time in museums and galleries that receive public funding in England.

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatestimate they have made of the net asset value of the art which is in storage at any time in museums and galleries that receive public funding.

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of museums and galleries that receive public funding to make art from their display collections, but which is in storage, more widely available.

lord ashton of hyde: The Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored museums published in November estimates that there are 99 million objects in the collections of the museums and galleries funded directly by DCMS. The Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England published in November also cited research suggesting that there are 200 million objects in museum collections across England and Wales, although not all of these museums are in receipt of public funding. DCMS does not hold breakdowns of these figures, including distinguishing between art and other types of holdings. It is not possible to provide a static figure on collections held in storage, which varies according to the programmed exhibitions and per institution. In some museums a relatively small amount of the collection is on permanent display but is accessible for research or in open stores available on request. For example, the V&A estimates that 25% of the collection is on display at any one time, whereas the National Gallery has approximately 60% on display, with 100% available online. The UK’s public collections, both art and wider collections, are held on the basis of their cultural rather than financial value. Whilst values are sometimes sought for objects to support specific collections management purposes (e.g. acquisitions or loans) there is no requirement on museums to value their collections in totality. Through the work that they do, the national museums are committed to ensuring as many people as possible across the country have access to their collections. There are many examples of best practice, including long-term loans to historic houses, skill-sharing programmes, some Subject Specialist Networks, and spotlight loans and partnership galleries - the V&A, for example, has over 1,700 items out on long term loan to partnership organisations and for them, the opening last autumn of the V&A Shenzhen, and this coming autumn of V&A Dundee, are further examples of their reach including on a global scale. Many others have partnerships with other organisations across the globe, including for touring their exhibitions. The Mendoza Review of Museums in England today, published in November, found that this work is not always understood and could be extended further. It recommended that the work done on this front should be more strategic. Supported by DCMS, the nationals will, through the National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC), work ACE and HLF in building a new ‘partnership framework’ to extend their reach throughout England in a more strategic way. This will look at museum and audience need and will cover areas that include: collections management, learning, working with audiences, digital, international, and commercial. This partnership framework will be in place by September.

YouTube

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to Ofcom regulating the social media platform YouTube in the same way as licensed media broadcasters.

lord ashton of hyde: The remit of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is set out in the Communications Act 2003. It has wide-ranging powers across broadcasting, telecoms and post. Government favours a self-regulatory, multi-stakeholder approach to the internet, and seeks to work collaboratively with key partners. We are considering a range of options to counter internet harms as part of Internet Safety Strategy, published on 11 October. We recently held a consultation exercise on the measures in the Strategy, which included questions on a social media code of practice, annual social media transparency reports and a social media levy. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

House of Lords: Staff

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many staff were employed in each of the following services of the House of Lords in 2010 (1) the Library, (2) Catering and Retail Services, and (3) all other offices and departments of the House Administration; what was the cost in each case; and what are the equivalent figures for 2017.

lord mcfall of alcluith: The tables below show the average number of whole-time equivalent staff employed for the financial years 2010-11 and 2016-17 and total staffing costs for each period.Staff numbers in the House of Lords AdministrationThe average number of Whole-Time Equivalent persons (WTE) employed during the year was as follows: 2010-11 2016-17Library3138 Catering and Retail Services(CRS)¹108111 All other offices and departments²302338 Total as per published resource accounts441486  Staff costs in the House of Lords AdministrationThe following shows the staff costs (including social security and pension costs) for the House of Lords Administration: 2010-112016-17  £000£000Library1,3951,755 Catering and Retail Services³3,4974,168 All other offices and departments⁴16,01518,164 Total20,90724,087 ¹ Of which 11 WTE relates to variable hours staff in 2016-17. The 2010-11 WTE figure for CRS variable hours staff is unknown as this information was not recorded on the payroll system when payments were entered.² Of which 2 WTE relates to Hansard temporary reporters in 2016-17. The 2010-11 WTE figure for Hansard temporary reporters is unknown as this information was not recorded on the payroll system when payments were entered.³ Of which £135k in 2010-11 and £276k in 2016-17 relates to CRS variable hours staff.⁴ Of which £54k in 2010-11 and £65k in 2016-17 relates to Hansard temporary reporters.

Women and Equalities

UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

baroness hodgson of abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the decision will be made whether to nominate a UK woman for the vacancies arising in 2018 to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; and whether they will publish the outcome of their decision before the 7 March deadline for the 2018 election.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government is considering a range of factors and will make a decision on whether to nominate a UK candidate for the vacancies arising in 2018 to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women by the 7 March deadline.

UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 January (HL4558), why the UK has never made a nomination to the UN Committee for Ending Discrimination against Women; and what consideration they have given tomaking a nomination in recognition of the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 extending voting rights to women.

baroness williams of trafford: A range of factors are explored when considering whether to nominate a candidate for an election to a body such as the CEDAW Committee. A decision on whether to nominate a UK candidate for the next CEDAW Committee membership elections will be made by 7 March.